1 - Governing Gender: Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria
Corresponding Author(s) : Awino Okech
Africa Development,
Vol. 46 No. 3 (2021): Africa Development
Abstract
This article draws on a qualitative study piloted in Maiduguri, Northern Nigeria, to unpack the gender logics that shape why women join Boko Haram, their roles, how they are perceived by their communities on their return and how these dynamics inform the ‘deradicalisation’ programmes of the Nigerian government and civil society organisations. The study reveals that the absence of a gender power analysis reproduces the dominant tropes evident in radicalisation theories and programmes about who is radicalised and why, thus limiting a holistic response to the factors that drive association with Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria. The article points to the opportunities that a more nuanced reading of women’s experiences of associating with armed groups and their return to their communities offers to re-conceptualising integration programmes.
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- Adegoke, D. and Oni O., 2017, Knowledge Production on Peace and Security in Africa: Mapping the Epistemic Terrain of Peace and Security in Africa 1960–2018, a project of the African Leadership Centre Data Lab, London, UK: King’s College, London (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326041372_Knowledge_Production_on_Peace_and_Security_in_Africa_Mapping_the_epistemic_terrain_of_peace_and_securty _in_Africa_1960-2018). Accessed 1 October 2020.
- Agbiboa, D.E., 2014, Boko-Haram and the Global Jihad: ‘Do Not Think Jihad Is Over. Rather Jihad Has Just Begun’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 400–417.
- Alao, C.A., 2013, Islamic Radicalisation and Violence in Nigeria, in Gow, J., Olonisakin, F. and Dijxhoorn, E., eds, Militancy and Violence in West Africa, London, UK: Routledge, pp. 63–109.
- Amadiume, I., 1997, Reinventing Africa: Matriarchy, Religion and Culture, London, UK: Zed Books.
- Amrane-Minne, D.D. and Abu-Haidar, F., 1999, Women and Politics in Algeria from the War of Independence to Our Day, Research in African Literatures, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 62–77 (DOI: 10.1353/ral.1999.0003). Badurdeen, F.A., 2018a, Women and Recruitment in the Al-Shabaab Network: Stories of Women Being Recruited by Women Recruiters in the Coastal Region of Kenya, The African Review, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 19–48.
- Badurdeen, F.A., 2018b, Roles, Motivations, and Recruitment Pathways of Kenyan Women Recruited into the Al-Shabaab, in Mazrui, A., Njogu, K. and Goldsmith, P., eds, Countering Violent Extremism in Kenya: Between the Rule of Law and the Quest for Security, Nairobi: Twaweza Publications.
- Bamidele, O., 2016, Boko Haram group in Nigeria: Religious Intolerance and Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Perspective, Africa Insight, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 931–105.
- Berntzen, L.E. and Sandberg, S., 2014, The Collective Nature of Lone Wolf Terro- rism: Anders Behring Breivik and the Anti-Islamic Social Movement, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 759–779.
- Botha, A. and Abdile, M., 2019, Reality Versus Perception: Toward Understan- ding Boko Haram in Nigeria, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 493–519 (DOI: 10.1080/1057610X. 2018 .1403152).
- Borum, R., 2011, Radicalisation into Violent Extremism II: A Review of Concep- tual Models and Empirical Research, Journal of Strategic Security, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 37–62.
- Braun, V. and Clarke, V., 2006, Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 77–101.
- Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), nd., Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Government Approaches to Managing Defecting Violent Extremists (https://www.cddwestafrica.org/4 springtime-color-schemes-to-try-at-home/). Accessed 23 September 2020.
- Cohen, L. and Manion, L., 1989, Research Methods in Education, 3rd ed., London, UK: Routledge.
- Czarniawska, B., 2014., Social Science Research: From Field to Desk, London, UK: Sage Publications.
- Giscard d’Estaing, S., 2017, Engaging Women in Countering Violent Extremism: Avoiding Instrumentalisation and Furthering Agency, Gender and Development, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 103–118.
- Gonzalez-Perez, M., 2008, Women and Terrorism: Female Activity in Domestic and International Terror Groups, London, UK: Routledge.
- Hansen, W., 2017, Boko Haram: Religious Radicalism and Insurrection in North- ern Nigeria, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 551–569 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909615615594).
- Hansen, W. and Musa, U.A., 2013, Fanon, the Wretched and Boko Haram, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 281–296 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909612467277).
- Henty, P. and Eggleston, B., 2018, Mothers, Mercenaries and Mediators: Women Providing Answers to the Questions We Forgot to Ask, Security Challenges, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 106–123.
- Higonnet, M.R., Jenson, J., Michel, S. and Weitz, M. C., eds, 1987, Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Imam, A., Biu, H and Yahi, M., 2020, Women’s Informal Peacebuilding in North East Nigeria, CMI Brief, No. 9, pp. 1–6.
- International Crisis Group (ICG), 2016, Nigeria: Women and the Boko Haram Insurgency, Africa Report, No. 242, 5 December.
- Kessels, E., Durner, T. and Schwartz, M., 2016, Violent Extremism and Instability in the Greater Horn of Africa: An Examination of Drivers and Responses, Report, Global Center on Cooperative Security.
- Lazreg, M., 1994, The Eloquence of Silence: Algerian Women in Question, New York: Routledge.
- Mbembe, A., 2003, Necropolitics, Meintjes, L., transl., Public Culture, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 11–40.
- Okech: Governing Gender – Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria Medie, P. and Kang, A.J., 2018, Power, Knowledge and The Politics of Gender in the Global South, European Journal of Politics and Gender, Vol 1, No 1–2, pp. 37–54 (DOI:10.1332/251510818X15272520831157).
- Musa, A., 2010, Reporting Religion and Enemy Images in the Nigerian Press, Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1–13.
- Ogharanduku, V. I., 2017, Violent Extremism and Grievance in Sub-Saharan Africa, Peace Review, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 207–214.
- Okech, A., 2013, Researching Discourses on Widow Inheritance: Feminist Ques- tions About ‘Talk’ As Methodology, in Bennett, J. and Pereira, C., eds, 2013, Jacketed Women: Qualitative Research Methodologies on Sexualities and Gender in Africa, Cape Town, UCT Press.
- Okech, A., 2018, Boundary Anxieties and Infrastructures of Violence: Somali Identity in Post-Westgate Kenya, Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 293–309.
- Oriola, T.B., 2017, ‘Unwilling Cocoons’: Boko Haram’s War Against Women, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 99–121.
- Paden, J., 2005, Muslim Civic Cultures and Conflict Resolution, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
- Pereira, C., nd., Understanding Women’s Experiences of Citizenship in Nigeria: From Advocacy to Research (https://codesria.org/IMG/pdf/PEREIRA-1.pdf). Accessed 30 September 2020.
- Pereira, C., 2005, Zina and Transgressive Heterosexuality in Northern Nigeria, Feminist Africa, Vol. 5, pp. 52–79.
- Pillay, A., 2018, Harnessing Gender Transformative Opportunities within Humani- tarian Crises: A Field Note from North-east Nigeria, Conflict Trends, 2018/2, Accord (https://www.accord.org.za/c onflict-trends/harnessing-gender-trans-formative-opportunities-within-humanitarian-crises/). Accessed 26 May 2021. Schmid, A.P., 2014, Violent and Non-Violent Extremism: Two Sides of The Same Coin, ICCT Research Paper, pp. 1–29.
- Unaegbu, L., Kimiri, P. and Agada, S., 2020, Rapid Gender Analysis: North East Nigeria Region (https://www2.unwomen.org//media/field%20office%20africa/images/publications/2020/ne%20ngeria%20rga%20digital_compressed. pdf?la=enandvs=5508). Accessed 26 May 2021.
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 2020, Nigeria North-East: Bakassi Camp Factsheet (https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/fact-sheet-bakassi-idp-camp-maiduguri-borno-state-north-east-nigeria-updated-january). Accessed 26 May 2021.
References
Adegoke, D. and Oni O., 2017, Knowledge Production on Peace and Security in Africa: Mapping the Epistemic Terrain of Peace and Security in Africa 1960–2018, a project of the African Leadership Centre Data Lab, London, UK: King’s College, London (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326041372_Knowledge_Production_on_Peace_and_Security_in_Africa_Mapping_the_epistemic_terrain_of_peace_and_securty _in_Africa_1960-2018). Accessed 1 October 2020.
Agbiboa, D.E., 2014, Boko-Haram and the Global Jihad: ‘Do Not Think Jihad Is Over. Rather Jihad Has Just Begun’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 400–417.
Alao, C.A., 2013, Islamic Radicalisation and Violence in Nigeria, in Gow, J., Olonisakin, F. and Dijxhoorn, E., eds, Militancy and Violence in West Africa, London, UK: Routledge, pp. 63–109.
Amadiume, I., 1997, Reinventing Africa: Matriarchy, Religion and Culture, London, UK: Zed Books.
Amrane-Minne, D.D. and Abu-Haidar, F., 1999, Women and Politics in Algeria from the War of Independence to Our Day, Research in African Literatures, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 62–77 (DOI: 10.1353/ral.1999.0003). Badurdeen, F.A., 2018a, Women and Recruitment in the Al-Shabaab Network: Stories of Women Being Recruited by Women Recruiters in the Coastal Region of Kenya, The African Review, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 19–48.
Badurdeen, F.A., 2018b, Roles, Motivations, and Recruitment Pathways of Kenyan Women Recruited into the Al-Shabaab, in Mazrui, A., Njogu, K. and Goldsmith, P., eds, Countering Violent Extremism in Kenya: Between the Rule of Law and the Quest for Security, Nairobi: Twaweza Publications.
Bamidele, O., 2016, Boko Haram group in Nigeria: Religious Intolerance and Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Perspective, Africa Insight, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 931–105.
Berntzen, L.E. and Sandberg, S., 2014, The Collective Nature of Lone Wolf Terro- rism: Anders Behring Breivik and the Anti-Islamic Social Movement, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 759–779.
Botha, A. and Abdile, M., 2019, Reality Versus Perception: Toward Understan- ding Boko Haram in Nigeria, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 493–519 (DOI: 10.1080/1057610X. 2018 .1403152).
Borum, R., 2011, Radicalisation into Violent Extremism II: A Review of Concep- tual Models and Empirical Research, Journal of Strategic Security, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 37–62.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V., 2006, Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 77–101.
Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), nd., Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Government Approaches to Managing Defecting Violent Extremists (https://www.cddwestafrica.org/4 springtime-color-schemes-to-try-at-home/). Accessed 23 September 2020.
Cohen, L. and Manion, L., 1989, Research Methods in Education, 3rd ed., London, UK: Routledge.
Czarniawska, B., 2014., Social Science Research: From Field to Desk, London, UK: Sage Publications.
Giscard d’Estaing, S., 2017, Engaging Women in Countering Violent Extremism: Avoiding Instrumentalisation and Furthering Agency, Gender and Development, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 103–118.
Gonzalez-Perez, M., 2008, Women and Terrorism: Female Activity in Domestic and International Terror Groups, London, UK: Routledge.
Hansen, W., 2017, Boko Haram: Religious Radicalism and Insurrection in North- ern Nigeria, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 551–569 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909615615594).
Hansen, W. and Musa, U.A., 2013, Fanon, the Wretched and Boko Haram, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 281–296 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909612467277).
Henty, P. and Eggleston, B., 2018, Mothers, Mercenaries and Mediators: Women Providing Answers to the Questions We Forgot to Ask, Security Challenges, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 106–123.
Higonnet, M.R., Jenson, J., Michel, S. and Weitz, M. C., eds, 1987, Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Imam, A., Biu, H and Yahi, M., 2020, Women’s Informal Peacebuilding in North East Nigeria, CMI Brief, No. 9, pp. 1–6.
International Crisis Group (ICG), 2016, Nigeria: Women and the Boko Haram Insurgency, Africa Report, No. 242, 5 December.
Kessels, E., Durner, T. and Schwartz, M., 2016, Violent Extremism and Instability in the Greater Horn of Africa: An Examination of Drivers and Responses, Report, Global Center on Cooperative Security.
Lazreg, M., 1994, The Eloquence of Silence: Algerian Women in Question, New York: Routledge.
Mbembe, A., 2003, Necropolitics, Meintjes, L., transl., Public Culture, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 11–40.
Okech: Governing Gender – Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria Medie, P. and Kang, A.J., 2018, Power, Knowledge and The Politics of Gender in the Global South, European Journal of Politics and Gender, Vol 1, No 1–2, pp. 37–54 (DOI:10.1332/251510818X15272520831157).
Musa, A., 2010, Reporting Religion and Enemy Images in the Nigerian Press, Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1–13.
Ogharanduku, V. I., 2017, Violent Extremism and Grievance in Sub-Saharan Africa, Peace Review, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 207–214.
Okech, A., 2013, Researching Discourses on Widow Inheritance: Feminist Ques- tions About ‘Talk’ As Methodology, in Bennett, J. and Pereira, C., eds, 2013, Jacketed Women: Qualitative Research Methodologies on Sexualities and Gender in Africa, Cape Town, UCT Press.
Okech, A., 2018, Boundary Anxieties and Infrastructures of Violence: Somali Identity in Post-Westgate Kenya, Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 293–309.
Oriola, T.B., 2017, ‘Unwilling Cocoons’: Boko Haram’s War Against Women, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 99–121.
Paden, J., 2005, Muslim Civic Cultures and Conflict Resolution, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Pereira, C., nd., Understanding Women’s Experiences of Citizenship in Nigeria: From Advocacy to Research (https://codesria.org/IMG/pdf/PEREIRA-1.pdf). Accessed 30 September 2020.
Pereira, C., 2005, Zina and Transgressive Heterosexuality in Northern Nigeria, Feminist Africa, Vol. 5, pp. 52–79.
Pillay, A., 2018, Harnessing Gender Transformative Opportunities within Humani- tarian Crises: A Field Note from North-east Nigeria, Conflict Trends, 2018/2, Accord (https://www.accord.org.za/c onflict-trends/harnessing-gender-trans-formative-opportunities-within-humanitarian-crises/). Accessed 26 May 2021. Schmid, A.P., 2014, Violent and Non-Violent Extremism: Two Sides of The Same Coin, ICCT Research Paper, pp. 1–29.
Unaegbu, L., Kimiri, P. and Agada, S., 2020, Rapid Gender Analysis: North East Nigeria Region (https://www2.unwomen.org//media/field%20office%20africa/images/publications/2020/ne%20ngeria%20rga%20digital_compressed. pdf?la=enandvs=5508). Accessed 26 May 2021.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 2020, Nigeria North-East: Bakassi Camp Factsheet (https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/fact-sheet-bakassi-idp-camp-maiduguri-borno-state-north-east-nigeria-updated-january). Accessed 26 May 2021.